Stephen Hawking was the modern world’s Albert Einstein. Soaring across the cosmos with the power of his mind, he unlocked many of the mysteries of the universe. Needless to say, he helped to advance human civilization in countless ways.
And, despite his debilitating disease, Hawking was also a prolific writer, speaker, and pop-culture personality. He made it his goal to make science more accessible to everyone. Sadly, he passed away on March 14th, 2018 at the age of 76.
Ready to expand your mind about one of the greatest geniuses of our time? Here are 25 Inspiring Facts About Stephen Hawking You Probably Didn’t Know.
He dreamed of writing a physics book that the general public could understand and wrote it with his speech synthesizer and assistance from his students. The result was "A Brief History of Time," published in 1988.
After undergoing a tracheotomy, he lost his voice and required 24-hour care. Thankfully in 1985, a Californian computer programmer caught wind of his condition and made a computer to help him speak with his head and eye movement.
Hawking married twice. The first was the mother of his three children, but that ended in divorce in 1990. He left his wife for his nurse, Elaine Mason. However, she filed for divorce with him in 2006.
To prove backward time travel probably wasn't possible, Stephen Hawking hosted a party for time travelers, and no one came, which was the point. He even sent invitations after the party ended.
His PhD doctoral thesis was called "Properties of the Expanding Universe." It basically tried to show how the universe could be created in mathematical terms, starting with the big bang. When it was made available online, the website hosting the thesis crashed.
Hawking claimed to be an atheist and didn't believe in a personal God, heaven, or the afterlife. Despite this, he still claimed the universe and life had meaning.
Hawking was very vocal about how the world would end. Of his theories, he claimed artificial intelligence, nuclear war, pandemics, climate change, or over-population will end humanity. As such, he was a big proponent of finding a new planet to live on.
He has an equation named after him called "Hawking's Equation." The formula is a centerpiece for our understanding of black holes. He said he wants it engraved on his tombstone.
He made a bet with fellow physicist John Preskill in 1997 that information was lost in black holes. Preskill disagreed and said information can escape them. In 2004, Hawkings admitted he was wrong.
In 1985, he suffered a bout of pneumonia and almost died. His doctors offered to take him off life support, but his wife refused. Thankfully, he survived and recovered enough to finish "A Brief History of Time."
He received several awards and distinctions, including the Albert Einstein Award, the Hughes Medal from the Royal Society, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama.
He's also a children's book author. He and his daughter Lucy co-wrote a series of children's books; the first one is called, "George's Secret Key to the Universe." Four more books were published in the series.
While he didn't believe in God, he did think other evolved extraterrestrials exist. He did warn, however, that if they ever visited us, it might not turn out so well for humanity.
He, among other physicists like Neil deGrasse Tyson, supported the "multiverse" theory, which suggests we are just one of several parallel universes out among the cosmos.
Undoubtedly a genius of the modern age, Hawkings IQ is unknown. He once said in an interview with The New York Times after they asked him about his IQ, “I have no idea. People who boast about their IQ are losers.”